Terrible for the tour. Robin Soderling was definitely the 5th best player in the world when his disease hit (and he proved it by destroying the current #5 and #6 players en route to his last tournament win) and the player who IMO could most challenge the top 4 in majors. Hopefully he can come back :-?

What a pity, really sad for him, just another proof how Fed's famous MONO thing was just cheap PR stunt.

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Federer's mono wasn't as intense as Soderling's, it doesn't mean he didn't have it at all.

Fed probably got over it in early to mid 2008 but he lacked the hours of practice on court which caused some serious damage to his fitness and then confidence. Whatever way you look at it and for whatever reason, his level dropped a lot in 2008 compared to 2007, apart from a couple of tournaments, the US and maybe Basel.

Federer's mono wasn't as intense as Soderling's, it doesn't mean he didn't have it at all.

Fed probably got over it in early to mid 2008 but he lacked the hours of practice on court which caused some serious damage to his fitness and then confidence. Whatever way you look at it and for whatever reason, his level dropped a lot in 2008 compared to 2007, apart from a couple of tournaments, the US and maybe Basel.

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That's BS, he had stomach flu before AO started, and somehow after Nole dismantled him in AO, suddenly he was very bad ill.No matter how severe the illness is,you can't play tennis in such a state, do you understand what r you talkin about???

Mono can really kick your butt, that said like many other infections it does not affect everyone the same. Some can recover relatively quickly and others never seem to be quite the same endurance-wise.

So was Cvac's famous gluten-free diet,and his famous egg hypobaric chamber story as well.

Anyway,this sucks for Soderling. Hopefully he can recover enough to get back on the tour. He must be bummed to have to face that he may never play again.

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See, you're bloody obsessed with Djokovic. You must wander around talking about him to everyone, you know the cashiers at the back, the person who serves you at a shop, the mailman.. I mean now you're coming back with stuff about him when people are talking about FEDERER. Why the hell do you care? Could understand if it was a Djokovic fan saying s**t about Nadal.

That's BS, he had stomach flu before AO started, and somehow after Nole dismantled him in AO, suddenly he was very bad ill.No matter how severe the illness is,you can't play tennis in such a state, do you understand what r you talkin about???

That's BS, he had stomach flu before AO started, and somehow after Nole dismantled him in AO, suddenly he was very bad ill.No matter how severe the illness is,you can't play tennis in such a state, do you understand what r you talkin about???

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It's not like a journeyman (at the time) pushed him to 10-8 in the final set in the 3rd round...

A few days ago I had an opportunity to chat with a former Swedish pro and he seemed definite that Soderling is not coming back. I know most people don't expect him to, but I was struck at how certain this person was.

Mono, and its severity, is quite hard to generalize. It ended Ancic's career but has spared Roddick and Fed. It remains to be seen if Soderling can recover and return to top 10 status. One thing is certain...as a new father (baby girl born October 12), his perspective will vastly change. Even if the body heals, his interest and focus may be compromised by this new role.